SUBJECT: Pass/Fail Vote and New Student Options for Winter 2020

Dear UM-Dearborn Faculty and Staff -

We are happy to announce that the UM-Dearborn governing faculty approved the option (with 72% of eligible faculty voting by a margin of 88%) for our undergraduate and graduate students to convert some or all of their Winter 2020 courses to a Pass/Fail grading mode.

A communication will go out shortly to students letting them know of this option, along with providing details about how they can switch their courses to a Pass/Fail grading mode. Students will be strongly encouraged to speak with an academic or faculty advisor before making a decision to switch a course grade to pass/fail so that they can fully understand the impact (if any) of this switch on their academic progress towards their degree. The deadline for students to switch to the Pass/Fail mode will be Wednesday, April 8th.

In addition, we want to let you know that the selective drop period (Winter 2020 Registration Deadlines) is also being extended to Wednesday, April 8th. This extension has been made in light of the significant changes to remote teaching and operations occurring at the very end of the selective drop period, which did not give students sufficient time to properly determine if they should withdraw from individual courses. Some students may well find it necessary to withdraw from a course or two, regardless of any flexibility offered by their faculty or the potential to change the course to a Pass/Fail.

We realize that the normal practice is to give students the option to petition their college to withdraw late from a course. However, given the extraordinary circumstances that our students are dealing with, both in their studies at UM-Dearborn and in their personal lives, we believe that extending the selective drop deadline is a better approach to help alleviate student stress as well as extra work by faculty and staff. Note that granting the option of a selective drop does not result in the refund of the course tuition.

A website titled “Course Options Pertinent to the Winter 2020 Semester” detailing information and guidance about the Pass/Fail option as well as the selective drop extension has been made available to the students.

If you have any questions, please direct them to your college’s advising office.

Hang in there, all!

Sue Alcock, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Raju Balakrishnan, Dean, College of Business  

Anthony England, Dean, College of Engineering & Computer Science 

Martin Hershock, Dean, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters 

Ann Lampkin-Williams, Dean, College of Education, Health, & Human Services